This policy brief by South Centre seeks to examine the implementation of the Doha Declaration in the ten years since its adoption and the challenges of implementing the TRIPS flexibilities for ensuring access to affordable medicines. This brief also analyses the impact of the WTO General Council decision of 30th August 2003 implementing paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration for facilitating access to medicines for countries with none or insufficient pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity.

What is it all about?

For millions of people in the developing world, access to essential medicines is often a question of life and death. Most of them rely on the affordable generic medicines being produced by countries like India. Backed by the big multinational pharma companies, US, European Union and European Free Trade Association are pushing for aggressive trade policies to restrict the supply and production of the generic medicines. The attack is taking various forms but with a single handed objective: Pushing for TRIPS plus provisions through Free Trade Agreements, international treaties, border measures etc. The impact of such actions could be devastating and result in loss of millions of lives in absence of affordable medicines.

"Dont Trade Our Lives Away" blog provides articles, opinions, documents, news reports, pictures, videos providing an insight on latest international developments that can have a direct impact on access to medicines such as on-going bilateral trade negotiations – India-EU FTA, TPPA and also international treaties like Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.